Reports hackers have compromised the highly sophisticated international central banking security systems graphically demonstrated a lesson all businesses and governments needed to take to heart – you are only as secure as your weakest link, Macquarie Telecom said today.

It has been reported overnight that $US81 million had been stolen by hackers who were able to breach the SWIFT trading systems used by banks to send orders for the transfer of money around the world.

The hackers reportedly succeeded in breaking into the international network that links thousands of financial institutions by gaining access to the Bangladesh central bank, which had no firewall and a network using second hand $10 switches.

“The banks and the banking system have been leaders in building cyber defences, and provide great examples for the rest of the community,” Macquarie Telecom managing director of hosting and government, Aidan Tudehope said.

“Yet this shocking breach shows that even that system is vulnerable if one nodes in the network is not up to standard, either through lack of resources or lack of knowledge and skill,” he said.

“The Cyber Security Strategy released by the Prime Minister last week provides a roadmap for Australian businesses and government agencies to lift their own cyber security stance.

“But in the interconnected economy, the risk of backdoor entry is ever present, and all the good work done by an individual enterprise can come unstuck through one partner who has got the cyber security message.

“Unfortunately, that message is sometimes still not being received, and sometimes still not being acted on quickly enough, especially by medium sized businesses and Government entities.

“They do not have the resources to keep up with the bad actors in the cyber security arms race alone, so must rely on partners and trusted advisers.

“It remains an on-going challenge for some smaller Government agencies to implement security measures the basic Top 4 ‘hygiene’ measures urged on them by the government’s own experts.

“In the private sector, the situation is still more uneven among medium sized businesses.”

“It is crucial that the nation’s managers take the time to read the strategy to understand where tey can find this help, so we can bring focus and improvement to the weakest links in the cyber security chain,” Mr Tudehope said

About the author.

Aidan is co-founder of Macquarie Telecom Group and has been a director since 1992. He is the Managing Director of Macquarie Government & Hosting Group and is invested in leading the contribution from the Australian industry on all matters Cloud & Cyber policy related.